Garden of Winter
by RadioRegicide
Summary: When a little girl stumbles out from a cluster of trees the world will suffer the consequences for her selfish choice because without the pebble there can be no ripples. With no ripples the waves that shape the future cannot come to be and leave only darkness. Fate is a scornful mistress and sometimes the absence of a lesser evil only serves to give way to a greater one.
1. The Girl from Among the Trees

**It's only natural that leafs fall into the river of time and make far stretching ripples that effects us all. But when one frost covered leaf never falls as it should and create the waves it was destined to the world will suffer the consequences for this lapse in judgement. Sometimes lesser evils exist so as to keep an even greater ones at bay.**

* * *

_**Garden Of Winter**_

* * *

**I**

_The Girl from Among the Trees_

* * *

**Gray Fullbuster**

Gray liked to think that for his age he was pretty smart yet he'd be lying if he claimed to understand what was going on as he awaited his master's return.

The morning had started like most others, Ur had awoken both him and Lyon before the sun had even shown any signs of rising before the three of them had gone outside to being that days training. It had been nothing out of the ordinary, the same tedious warm-up exercises before Ur even teased the idea of maybe starting on a new technique but before they could really get into their training a branch snapped behind Gray's teacher among the thick cluster of trees and to his surprise a girl in rags came tumbling out from among them as if pushed by an unseen stranger.

Ur had thought nothing of the snapping branch at first, thinking it must have been a wild animal and only looked to see what had thoroughly captured the attention of her two students so completing when it was obvious that neither were listening to her instructions. Gray didn't need to be a genius to realise Ur seemed to recognise this girl, who clearly panicked at being discovered and tried desperately to back pedal and rush for the cover of the trees.

"Stop!" Ur shouted at the girl in rags as she turned and fled, _pleaded_ with her. "Stay here," she ordered her students over her shoulder and Gray could only blink as his teacher went running off after the girl. The moments ticked by and whilst Gray stayed put as he was told, glowering in confusion and annoyance Lyon merely scoffed and stomped his way back through the snow towards the cabin they lived in, presumably to read one of Ur's old books to make up for the lack of lessons that would ensue in the wake of this strange girl's appearance.

In took a total of ten minutes for Gray's mentor to finally come into sight again, the girl held tightly against her even though she was seemingly fighting with all her might to escape the woman, screaming at the top of her lungs - shrieking words that made no sense or held any rhyme or reason. It was when Ur finally got within a few feet of Gray, face stained with tears that her knees finally gave out from under her, that the young boy finally realised just who this girl was as his master whispered words into the girls ear as she finally became to weak to struggle, "I've got you. Oh god, Ultear I've got you now. I promise,"

This was Ur's daughter. Her supposedly _dead_ daughter

This was Ultear.

Yet here she was, and she looked anything but dead.

The pair of them stayed like that for some time and Gray couldn't bring himself to look away despite knowing he should, that this was a private moment he was invading upon. Something inside of him, like angry jealousy stopped him though. How? _Why_? What made this girl so special that she seemingly got to come back from the dead. Of all the people in the world, why this girl? How was _that_ fair?

Eventually Ur regained some sense of composure and managed to get herself back onto her feet and carried her seemingly returned daughter towards the house, "Come on, Gray," she said quietly as she passed by, voice suddenly hard with a clear expression of anger on her face as she cradled her daughter's head in the crook of her neck. Gray looked up, watching his master's retreating back for a brief moment before he scrambled forward in the snow to catch up to the woman who had give him shelter and his magic.

Inside the cabin Lyon had predictable pulled out one of Ur many thick books in an attempt to learn something new after their lesson had gone awry, whilst Ur headed straight for her own bedroom to put her daughter in a real bed to rest. Gray spent the hour which Ur was shut away in her bedroom with her daughter going through some of the routine exercises they'd be taught, largely the creation of small simple objects like little ornament-style pieces, to help them with things like their cast time and creation stability.

When Ur finally did come back out of her room, she paid her two students no mind as she grabbed her coat, slipping it on as she headed for the exit.

"Boys," Ur had said as she stopped at the door, "I'm going to be gone for the next few hours and I need you to promise me that you'll keep an eye on Ultear whilst I'm gone and make sure to stop her if she tries to leave."

"Where are you going, Ur?" Lyon had the audacity to demand as he finally looked up from his book before pushing away from the table as he stormed over to their mentor.

What happened next was something that would burn itself into Gray's mind for the rest of his life - Ur half turned to look at the two of them, her expression thunderous and her eyes burning with a fury that singled there were slow deaths to come in the near future. What terrified the boy most of all at the time however was what Ur said, or rather _how_ she said it, with a quiet, tranquil fury and no hesitation: "To _punish_ the ones responsible for this."

And with that Ur left the two of them alone.

Neither Gray or Lyon were idiots: they knew exactly what their teacher meant by _punish _and yet somehow the state in which Ur returned well into the early hours of the next morning still shocked and horrified Gray; who had waited patiently for his master to returned, seated on his favourite chair by the fireplace. The dark haired woman was sported some minor new cuts and scratches with one pant leg slightly torn and shredded whilst her jacket had be charred and burnt, her face caked with dirt and dried blood, almost none of which was her own.

"Gray," Ur turned to see him as he had tried to desperately sneak away without being seen. It was strange to watch how her stoned faced expression softened almost instantly at the sight of him and so her eyes were flood with shame as she cast a downward glance as her bloody and bruised hands. "I didn't think you'd still be awake. I really didn't want either of you boys to seem me like this,"

He didn't look up at her though, a part of him was scared too because maybe that would make it more real. Gray had never thought of his teacher as someone who could take the life of another, it just seemed so against everything she seemed to stood for. Or maybe he'd just created a pedestal far to large for his own good. He'd been so afraid to look up at Ur though he'd backed himself into the wall without realising it and now she kneeling down in front of him there was no escape.

"I'm so sorry you ever had to see this side of me, Gray," he could only nodded mutedly for a brief moment before his eyes returned to a particular interesting spot on the floor near one of his feet. Ur sighed, though it was not one of anger or frustration it was a more exhausted, more regretful sound. "I'm so sorry," his teacher whispered as she wrapped him up her arms and hugged him tight for a moment and whilst Gray did not return the hug he could feel something went dripping onto the top of his head.

Ur was crying.

He'd done that - he had made her cry.

A sense of guilt washed over _him_ now too and without really thinking about it, he finally returned his master's hug.

"I never though anything like this would happen. God, how could this be any more screwed up?" Ur let out a slight, hollow laugh as Gray started to cry too as he burried his face in the crook of her neck.

"I'm sorry,"

"Whatever for?" Ur asked as they pulled apart, the older woman cupping Gray's face bring his gaze to meet so she could wipe away his tears with her thumb. Only to stain his check red with blood, "Look at me, now I'm getting you covered in blood; some role model I turned out to be." Ur laughed again, this time with a slight smile as she shook her head and looked away for a moment. "I'm the one that should be sorry."

"But I was afraid of you," Gray said and Ur looked as though what he said physically hurt her.

"Stupid boy," she admonished him as she hugged him close again, "being scared is nothing you should ever apologise for. Fear is a natural thing and it can save your life so don't you let anyone ever tell you that being afraid is wrong. If anyone is in the wrong here it's me, as your teacher, as your guardian I should _never_ make you feel that way."

"Ur, did you kill those people? The ones that hurt your daughter,"

"_No_," Ur replied slowly, purposefully, "God, I wanted too. I wanted to so badly but the one that took her from me wasn't there any more. _That_ man is the one that has to die, the rest were just pawns in his game. Willing pawns admittedly, so I hurt them - I hurt them a lot, but no. No I did not kill anyone tonight." Gray wouldn't lie, hearing that seemed to lift a weight from atop his heart as he felt relif knowing that his master still wasn't a killer but merely a woman, a mother, protecting her daughter after years of denial. Ur was still a good person.

"Now Gray, I need you to look me in eye," Ur murmured as she put her blood stained hands on his small shoulders. Mustering his courage, he looked up at the woman who had taken him in, her face dirt ridden and covered in scratches and blood. "Thank you, Gray. Now I need you to listen _very_ closely to what I'm about to tell you because it's extremely important,"

"_There_ it is, now we're getting somewhere." Gray could only groan as he suddenly seemed to jerk back to reality, his vision blurred to the point where all he could make out was a figure knelt at his side, his head caught in the vice-like grip of whoever cast the shadow with his mind still lost in a fog of memories he had always remembered but never recalled. Throwing up his right arm feeble he tried to swipe at the arm of the person who held him, only for his had to slap harmless against jagged ice and drop to his side having achieved nothing.

Another long moment passed, the sounds of approaching footsteps echoed off in the far distance as Gray's vision slowly came back into focus and the Ice-Make wizard realised that the person who held him captive was no human, but a demon. A monstrous creatures made of glimmering white ice and crystallised blood with great forearms and clawed hands that could've crushed his head like a nut if he made one wrong move, curled ram horns caught the glow of the nearby hovering candles scattered around the edges of the summing circle as the thing stood up pulling Gray with it and leaving him to dangle helplessly in the air as shards of ice cracked away from the demon's body only to instantly regrow as the creature from hell looked into the depths of his soul with silver eyes that burned in the harsh light of the grim stone chamber.

"I take it you've found it then, Deliora?" A man asked as he came around the demon's side to look up at Gray's limp, bloody form: the upper left side of his body burnt a twisted black as the flesh had shrivelled up and died whilst the vain hadn't been destroy but instead seemed to have begun to glow a faint blue, a strange crystal starting to grow out of the back of his left hand as the bones in his formerly started arm started to repair themselves.

Though Gray had never seen him before, he knew who this man was. He knew what this man was. He was the Definitive Demon of Zeref's dark collection: Mard Geer - the King of the Underworld. And though Gray wanted to break free and blast the smug look from the demon's face all he could was hang helpless from Deliora's unbreakable grip.

"Yes, Your Majesty,"

"Excellent, then we may finally _begin_. Welcome to our little family, Gray Fullbuster." Mard Geer's twisted smirk was the last thing Gray saw before he was pulled back into the twisted depths of his own mind and forced to re-watch his life play out as the demons sought something he had. Something they would get. And Gray was powerless to do anything about it.

* * *

Because damnit I need to write some GrayTear because there isn't enough of it and Fool's Advance isn't going anywhere soon by the looks of things. For a first chapter this sure turned out longer than intended, but I'm going to take that as a good sign. Catch you guys soon with the next one.


	2. The Measure Of A Mother

**Garden of Winter**

* * *

**II**

_The Measure Of A Mother_

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**Gray Fullbuster**

The following few days were a strange experience as nobody within Ur's cabin really seemed sure of how to handle the situation. After his conversation with his master following her return a few nights earlier Gray had kept to himself for the most part, following Lyon's example and purse some self-study whilst their master tried to coax her daughter out of her shell to little success.

Ultear refused to so much look at her mother, never mind talk to the woman who was clearly falling apart as the void grew ever larger with each failed attempt to get her daughter to acknowledge her. The little girl even refused to eat much of anything– but seeing as how see was barely more than skin and bones it was pretty obvious she used to idea of going without food.

Still, the girl could only go for so long before she could no longer ignore her hunger and given that they had been running low on supplies anyway, Ur had taken Lyon into town to the market to pick up fresh food and some clothes that would actually fit Ultear's skinny frame.

It was strange, Gray thought as he sat in his preferred armchair with a book on his lap as he stared at the door to Ur's bedroom where Ultear currently hid that the girl was actually supposed to be older than him by a few years. It must've been the result of so much time in that hellhole laboratory where she'd been treated as nothing more than an experiment; Ultear was clearly malnourished and had been the subject of obvious abuse and had stunted her growth somewhat given she was supposed to be twelve but looked to be no more than eight.

Either way he doubted the girl would be able to put up much of a struggle in her condition if she attempted to run but when the door to Ur's bedroom finally did creak open and Ultear emerged she didn't beeline for the front door, instead she seemed much more interested in the kitchen. _Guess she finally gave in, _Gray thought as he watched her dash for a chair, pulling it over next to the counter so she could stand on it and reach the higher cupboards.

"Two cupboards to the right," Gray said figuring it'd save them both sometime if he just told her where to look. Clearly the girl had not realised he was there because she just about jumped out of her skin when he spoke, flailing backwards off the chair and lading on her rear. Still, Ultear made no sound or showed any sign that the tumble had hurt whatsoever and instead pulled herself upright, glaring at him with all the fury her mother would conjure when she was truly angry.

"I thought you went into town with _her_," So she _could_ talk, Gray thought with a scowl as he closed the book up and folded his arms over his chest. A part of him felt he should be a little more annoyed at how she spoke to him but it the young boy was honest what really rubbed him the wrong way was how Ultear talked about her own mother like she was a force of evil– one not worth enough to even name properly.

"_She_ is your mother," Gray argued back as Ultear pushed the chair back to where she had taken it from– whether it was because she didn't want the food if Gray had helped by telling her where it was or that she didn't want him to tell Ur that the girl had actually finally eaten something. "A mother who went into town to buy food and clothes for you. The same woman who reduced that damn research facility to pile of rubble for _you_."

"The same woman who gave me to that damn laboratory in the first place…!" Ultear screamed with her back still to Gray as she tightened her grip on the sides of the chair. Spinning around, the Ur's daughter looked absolutely murderous and Gray could see his previous comment had clearly struck a nerve. "The same woman who abandoned me and replaced me with you and the other white haired boy! She is not my mother!"

"We were never replacements!" Gray stood up from the chair and marched over to stand in front of Ultear, the both of them inches apart as they glared at. "Lyon and I have nowhere else to go and your mother was kind enough to take us in and teach us magic when no one else would like at us twice if we'd been left alone! Your mother didn't take us in so she could replace you with two sons. You haven't seen what I have– you haven't seen her up in the middle of the night crying over your old possessions you'd. If you'd seen that you'd know we never could've replaced you even if we wanted to!"

"But you have replaced me!" Ultear screamed back at him and Gray wondered for a brief moment if this was how angry and short-sighted he'd been that day Ur had found him in the ruins of Isvan. Here before him was a little girl who had dealt an awful hand, yes but she'd also finally gotten something better. Something she should've had from the start. "You know my own mother better than I do and you aren't even her son. How is that fair? Answer me!"

Gray didn't know what it was about that simple question: _How is that fair?_ but he saw red. Maybe it was the cruel, unintentional cheek of it all – Ultear just wanted answers but she was really spitting in his face without realising it.

"_Fair_?" Gray said, shouting back as he found himself pushing Ultear back without meaning to– it was a weak push, but given how scrawny and malnourished the dark haired girl was she was quickly back on her rear. "How is it fair that a bratty, ungrateful _bitch_ like you gets a second chance with a mother who loves and wants her again whilst people like me, I bet even Lyon despite how much he would deny it, would give anything to get even one of our parents back! Ur was tricked into leaving with those bastards whilst I watched my parents and everyone else I know get murdered by a demon from the depths of hell! How is _that_ fair?"

After his brief rant it took Gray a moment to realise he was shaking and short on breath. It was also in this moment that he realised he had actually shoved Ultear and turned away, ashamed he had let himself become so easily overcome by anger. _She didn't even know anything and she still managed to get under my skin, _he wanted to scream as he brought both hands up, ruffling his hair as he tried to calm himself down. Turning away the young boy realised his explosion had been witnessed by both Ur and Lyon who had finally returned from the nearby town.

"What's going on here?" Ur asked, voice low as she stared at her floored daughter and panting student.

Gray opened his mouth to respond, explain. But how could he explain the 'conversation' he and Ultear had just hand. Looking over his shoulder at Ultear's unreadable expression, he hung his head in shame before moving to grab the book he had been reading earlier and left to go to the room he shared with Lyon.

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**Ultear Milkovich **

She would have very much liked to have gone back to her sulking after the incident with Gray, but Ultear was instead sat down at the kitchen table by her mother whilst the white haired boy was asked to check on his fellow pupil. Ur pulled out a second chair and sat down, though was no demand for answers though or any sign of anger. Instead she looked tired and world-weary and just stared off into the distance for a brief period before she finally shook her head and spoke.

"I know you don't exactly want much to do with me right now," Ultear didn't say anything to confirm or deny that statement, just looked at her mother, waiting, "but I need you to explain to me what was about. Why did Gray push you? What did you say to make him so angry?"

Ultear didn't know what to say, so she just opted to repeat what she had said to Gray earlier: "You're not my mother."

Ur took the statement as well as could've been expected, looking as though someone she trusted had just stabbed her, yet she also looked ashamed as she hung her own head. "You're right," Ultear blinked, taken aback. Ur shoulder's shook as she choked back a sob as her hands tightened into fists atop her knees before she finally looked back up, "A mother is someone who is there for her daughters first words, to comfort her the first time she scraps her knee and tuck her in at night after checking under the bed for monsters. Mothers don't leave their children with deranged scientists. I've never been allowed to be the mother you deserve Ultear. but we have a second chance now, so please. Please, will you let me try and be your mother now."

"You left me!" Ultear screeched as she threw herself from her chair and at her mother, slamming tiny fists into the woman's chest.

"I know, baby," Ur mumbled as the girl in her arms finally gave into the urge to cry, burying her face in the crook of her neck as the will to fight finally drained as mother hugged daughter close.

"You left me," Ultear repeated, muffled against her mother's neck as it was it still lack the bite of the previous scream. "Please don't leave me again,"

"I promise," Ur mumbled into Ultear's hair, now damp with her mother's own tears. "I promise. I won't ever leave you like that again."

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**A/N: **Abrupt ass ending I know, sorry for that but hey, I finally managed to scrape something together after a month of block on all my stories. Hope the next one won'y take as long but no promises. That said I'll catch you next time.


	3. Hail the Conquering Hero

**Garden of Winter**

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**III**

_Hail the Conquering Hero_

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**Ultear Milkovich**

Ultear had known that her life would never be normal after the horrors of her childhood, a little over two months since she had escaped the clutches of the group of men who had experimented on her had passed and adjusting was no easy task. The building was rubble, the group scattered but it didn't change how vivid her memories were of that place– or how frequently the nightmares came.

Truthfully Ultear felt an odd sense of shame and embarrassment over the whole thing: she'd survived that hell only for the escape to prove fruitless. After a particularly bad day during the second week, in which she'd nearly frozen Lyon solid by accident her mother took her aside and let her cry out of sight of the two boys (she'd done a lot of crying these last few months, much to her chagrin). It had just happened– one second she was practising a simple technique with Lyon when he'd turned towards her, he'd said something her brain hadn't registered because he looked annoyed about whatever it was and he'd made a move towards her and out of instinct she'd lashed out, too many times had one of the men who held her captive hit her when she wasn't learning fast enough.

The nightmares that night had been much worse than usual and Lyon had done his best to always keep a few feet between them ever since. The next morning her mother had simply taken her to side after breakfast and they had sat in silence, Ultear held closely by her mother as they sat outside and looked out over the frozen lake.

The experience had been oddly comforting for the young girl. It seemed like such a childish thing but her mother's presence helped her to feel safe. For the first time in her life that she could recall she felt safe and protected, she felt loved. As much a part of her still carried around feelings of betrayal, the part of her, deep inside, that would never truly forgive her mother for (unknowingly) abandon her she could not deny Ur's attempt to make up for lost time.

"It's not something you're ever going to forget, or forgive" Ur had said one night a few days later as she put her pupils and daughter to bed. "That doesn't mean the scars won't fade in time. They'll be days when it hurts but at the same time you can finally move on with your life. This whole thing is a part of you yes, but it does _not_ define you because if you let it then those men will have won even if you escaped and came back to me."

Ultear had nodded her understanding and Ur had kissed her goodnight.

Still, whilst she might have understood things were easier said than done and the nightmares didn't just stop like that, nor did the feeling of dread whenever she was out in public. There was a constant fear of one of the men returning to snatch her out of the crowd – the feeling had almost reduced her to a panic attack the first time her mother had taken her into town to visit the market.

Even with having been a prisoner much of her life Ultear was no fool. She could still read and count at a basic level though admittedly her ability to write left something to be desired because what little she could manage was illegible to everyone but her though that didn't make her stupid. Far from it. She was smart enough to know that for all the comfort and kind words her mother could offer her she didn't truly understand– nobody seemed to get how it felt to be afraid to sleep at night for fear of what she might see, of how every stranger on the street was a potential threat out to snatch her away again.

Nobody that was except maybe Gray.

"I can still see them sometimes at night, when I'm lying awake in bed," he murmured one day as the pair of them had sat outside on the cabin steps, watching the snowfall. "Those burning silver eyes amongst the flames staring down at me, buried beneath all that rubble as I watch my dad bleed to death."

"Why are you telling me this?" Ultear had said in a whisper after a long pause.

"Because you understand what it's like to be broken. To be full of hate and rage," he had said in a hiss as he clutched his hands into fists. Neither of them said anything more because nothing else was needed to be said. Ultear still envied Gray and how he could move forward and focus, mind set as he trained day in and day out so that one day he might be able to destroy the demon which had ruined his life.

But what of her?

Ur had reduced the research bureau to rubble and no doubt left and impression on the men who had experimented on her. There was no big bad for Ultear to channel all of her rage towards– at least not one she knew how to find and punish. The man who had been in charge of the bureau had always been careful, not once had she ever seen his face. The odds did not look kindly of her ever finding the man who had caused her and her mother so much grief.

But as Ultear had come to terms with that realisation of the cabin steps that day as she chanced a glance at Gray as something occurred to her. What would it say of her if she squandered this life– this chance at freedom? The man from the bureau would still win because he would be the thing that defined who she was– just like her mother had said. In the same way the Deliora seemed to be driving Gray, defining the person he would become. She didn't want that to be her but at the same time she knew that anger was something that was impossible to let go of.

Her mother had not taken this boy in as a replacement– she was trying to save him from himself. Ur wanted to give the boy a purpose and if she could then maybe there was hope yet for Ultear.

It was her mother's desire to save Gray from himself that let her understand many of her mother's choices even if she didn't really know the boy. Like how the pair of them had been returning from town with that week's groceries and much to her shame, Ultear had spent most of the trip into town with her arms tightly wrapped around one of her mother's as she did her best to not look anyone in the eye.

The trip had gone better than most others that had come before; Ultear had felt safe with her mother and was beginning to establish some familiarity with the stall owners which Ur frequented. She was by no means ready to talk to any of them but she was no longer trying to hide behind her mother any time they tried to talk to her and she was able to nod or shake her head in response.

It was at the last stall on their way home that the woman who ran it noted the absences of Gray and Lyon. "No boys today Ur?" the woman had asked and her mother had chuckled before shaking her head.

"Those two are working harder than ever since Ultear showed them up last week," Ur said as she gave Ultear's head a comforting stroke. "It's honestly impressive how fast she's catching up with the two of them. Another week or two and she might even end up being ahead of those two and neither of them wants to be surpassed by a _girl_." The woman across the stall laughed heartily as clearly Ur had told some sort of joke which Ultear had missed. Something to do with boys she supposed.

Truth be told Ultear would much rather be back at the cabin training with the boys than in the heart of town but her mother and the stall keeper quickly said their goodbyes and they were off on their way home. Mother nor daughter said anything on the way out of town but Ultear could tell her mother seemed pleased, looking up she saw her mother shoot her a proud smile.

The good mood was quickly ushered out the door however as the pair passed a group of men who seemed to be discussing a tragedy that had occurred on the northern continent– a demon attack, the continued rampage of a hulking monstrosity named Deliora. Ur had stopped at the name, looking over her shoulder as the men headed back into town clearly shocked at the name. There had been no mention of Deliora in months.

"Ultear," Ur said turning around and bending down so she was at eye level with her daughter; she looked equally parts serious and panicked. "I know you know what Deliora is, what it has done."

"It was the demon that attacked Isvan. It killed Gray's family," Ultear replied, voice barely above a whisper and her mother nodded. "It's the demon Gray wants to kill."

"He's not ready," Ur shook her head, "not even close. _I'm_ not close to being able to kill a demon of Deliora's calibre. Still, Gray won't listen to that. It he finds out where Deliora is what do you think he'll do about it?"

"He'll go after the demon."

"We can't let that happen, he'll only get himself killed." Ultear was taken aback by how bluntly her mother put it. Then again it wasn't like Ultear would've taken a sugar-coated response at face value. The bureau had made her too jaded for something like that. "I need you to promise me that you'll never breathe a word of what we've just heard to Gray. Forget the conversation and those men – they don't exist. He has his own demons within him, Ultear and we need to protect him from them lest they grow and consume him and the boy we know will disappear forever."

Ultear had been conflicted; Gray had shared precious information about himself with her in confidence as the pair of them had grown close these past two months as they had bonded over their less than stellar histories. Could she lie? Keep information about the demon he so desperately sought from him? Yes. Because her mother was right, if Gray found out where Deliora was he would go after it and get himself killed, he would accomplish nothing accept help boost the demon's body count.

"Okay," Ultear had said after a brief moment of hesitation.

"Ultear!" At the sound of someone shouting on her, Ultear could only blink as the world of days gone by faded from view and instead she was left with a town in ruins laid out before her vacant eyes. She must've gone into shock. Magnolia had been besieged by the New Baram Alliance, who had raised the town to the ground in search of what they were calling the Host of E.N.D and now nothing but ruins and the dead remained of the once prosperous town as everything burnt.

"_Ultear_!" Again someone shouted on her as the sound of footsteps stomping across uneven ground and shattered glass finally cut through the fog of memory which Ultear had allowed herself to become lost in. It was Erza. The redhead was bloody and bruised and whichever armour she was wearing was battered beyond the point of recognition. It seemed like another life time ago the pair of them had been in this same situation, Erza bruised and beaten standing over Ultear's defeated form with fury in her eye, though now circumstances where different: they were different. It wasn't enough though.

Looking up Ultear found herself at a loss for words, but anything she might have said was lost as a body came crashing through the wall of a nearby building, bringing the ruined house down before a second figure walked over the rubble to confront the first body at the steps of what little remained of Cardia Cathedral.

Ultear's mind barely registered the fact the one beaten and barely able to stand; propping themselves on the steps of the cathedral was Natsu because she couldn't look away from Gray, who towered over his friend: "All hail the conquering hero," he shouted, throwing up his arms as he seemed completely unaware of herself and Erza.

"Let us remember him as our friend, our comrade," Gray continued as Natsu stood up to glare at him, "and not as the one who brought us _this_. I'll make sure everyone remembers you as someone who was supposed to protect the guild. Now though I'm the one that has to save the guild. From _you_."

"The do it," Natsu barely managed to rasp out as he gave a defiant smirk as he mock Gray one last time by casting aside his tattered vest in a fashion akin to Gray. It was clear whatever was going on between the pair amidst the deepening chaos Natsu did not intend to go down without a fight.

"Gray! Natsu…!" Erza screamed across the ruins and both young men looked over, startled at the sight of onlookers. Their moment of pause was shattered when as quickly as he turned to look in horror, Gray spun back to face his comrade of old and swung down with a sword of ice he conjured mid swing Ultear could only scream for him to stop something exploded and the world went white with a scream of pain and gush of blood.

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**A/N: **Well, yeah. So whilst this story was already off the rails this is the chapter that acts as point of no return. Whilst I feel Ultear returning acts as a diverging point with some serious implications the big one is here: Gray does not find out Deliora and doesn't confront him at the point he did in canon and thus never joins Fairy Tail when he's supposed to. But alas, time is a river and when you drop a stone into the current simply flows around it so it can carry on as it should.

Just to clarify encase anyone is a little lost also, the scene at the end of the first chapter and the end of this chapter obviously take place during the time in which the Tarturus arc takes place in the canon timeline whilst everything else is a strange sort-of-yet-not-really flashback. To take a page out of Lost's book I think it'd be more appropriate to call the ending scenes flash-forwards.

Next chapter is back Gray and Ultear as kids and we probably won't see another flash-forward for some time, though we'll probably jump ahead a some time in chapter four. Until next time, peace!


	4. The Borderlands

**Garden of Winter**

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**IV**

_The Borderlands_

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**Gray Fullbuster**

It had been a year to the day on which Ultear had retuned that Ur had announced during breakfast that the four of them would be going on a trip. A trip to where exactly remained a mystery for the following few days as Ur offered little information outside of that they would be leaving Iceberg for another country and they could be gone for months if not longer. Now, a little over a week after the announcement the four of them, master and students, shared a cabin on an old rickety train that was to taking them to somewhere in the country of Seven after having spent several days on foot beforehand.

Out of all of them Ur seemed to be the only one who didn't look ready to pass out from the sheer heat of the desert country. Even if they'd only crossed the border an hour or two ago the sudden spike in temperature had Gray feeling like his brain was melting and it was taking all of his will power not to just throw his clothes out the window and hope being in the buff would at least help him cool down _somewhat_. That or stick his head our the window and hope the breeze was a cool one.

Next to him it was clear Lyon was in a similar state of distress though he was doing a better job of masking his growing discomfort than Gray. Ultear, being the girl she was, had her face buried in a book which sat in her lap but her forehead was glowing with sweat and, seeing as Gray had nothing better to do than watch her, he hadn't seen her turn the page in over twenty minutes which made it clear she was finding it all but impossible to concentrate on what the words actually said.

"Are you _trying_ to kill us," Gray demanded as he finally gave up and tore off the top he was wearing and instead wrapped it around his head. It was rather disgusting but given how the vest was soaked with sweet it'd at least keep his head cool for a little while.

"Yes," Ur said without missing a beat and all three children stared at her horror struck. It took a moment before the her poker face cracked and their mentor burst into a fit of hysterics. Gray cursed at her and the reply was a swift smack to the head as he was chided for his language. "In all serious though, no I am not trying to kill you," Ur sighed as she frowned at Gray for the briefest of moments, as if reconsidering that course of action when he muttered another curse on his breath, "however this trip we're going on is very important as it could very well mean the end of your time with me."

"What do you mean by that, _exactly_?" Lyon said as he folded his arms over his own now bare chest, having opted to follow Gray's influence.

"I mean the three of you have had a incredibly easy time of it until this point." Ur replied without batting an eye. "Much like I was, the three of you were all taught the basics of Ice-Make in an environment which would help you adapt and develop at a fast pace, providing you with an edge, so to speak. _However _you can't spend the rest of your lives under my tutelage and you'll have to go out into the world on your own to learn and further develop but you need to be prepared for that so we're going from on extreme to another.

"Seven is for the most part one massive desert with a few highly populated areas and this heat will make it extremely difficult for you to make anything with you magic," Ur said as she gave Gray and Lyon a pointed look before they could argue. "That being said if you can make a stable object out here that doesn't actually melt within a few minutes then you'll be able to utilise Ice-Make almost anywhere. One of the first things I taught you all was that Ice-make works on a basic level by projecting the image you want to create in you mind into the space in front of you by harnessing the cold and freezing the water vapour until it takes the form of the thing you want it to. The natural cold of Iceberg helps, especially at the entry level but given how there are almost no clouds here and hot the wind is I'd say pulling that off here isn't exactly how we're supposed to pass this test.

"Likewise," Ur added with a jerk of her in the direction of the window, "Sand is a rather effective way of dealing with ice as it causes traction and with the right amount of fiction can also cause it to melt. At first glance this environment is the perfect counter for wizards like us - except it's _not_. This trip will be entirely about the practise of of Harness and Channel: the theory of using one hand to harness the desired element and another to channel it into the thing you want to create."

"That's why mother is always telling you to use both hands, Lyon," Ultear snickered as she looked up from her book for a moment to stick her tongue out at the white haired boy. As par usual Lyon quickly fired off a retort whilst Ur pinched the bridge of her nose and Gray rolled his eyes as he slumped further in his seat. He liked to think he got along with Lyon, or at least tolerated his superior than thou attitude at times and got along well with Ultear as any bards they exchanged were meant as light hearted banter but Ur's daughter and his senior always seemed to butt heads.

Gray wasn't sure it if was down the fact with Ultear had almost occidentally frozen Lyon or the fact Ultear could never accept the idea of Lyon mastering something her mother taught them before her but the pair of them just couldn't seem to get along. Everything was a competition between the pair, Ultear with her natural talent for the magic and Lyon with his determination to not only out do the dark haired girl but surpass their mentor who he still viewed as the most powerful wizard on the continent despite Ur constantly speaking of stronger wizards in the west. Gray was pretty sure he also heard her mutter something about the monsters from the western continent to once.

"Yes, _thank you,_ Ultear," Ur said in a manner that showed she didn't appreciate the interruption but Ultear just smiled back up at her, knowing that was probably as far as the reprimand would go. "Getting back on topic," she added before anything else could be said, "Ultear is right to extent I taught you to cast with both hands because every brand of Maker Magic has it's own default stance in which one hand is used to harness the chosen element of choice whilst the other is then used to channel magic into that shape. That being said I've taught you all at the same time their are exceptions to this rule when trying to cast certain spells: this being an adaptive stance."

"So this trip is about learning a new adaptive stance stance?" Gray asked and Ur gave a slight nod, but at the same her expression told him he wasn't entire correct.

"Yes, and also no," Gray just raised an eyebrow and waited for the explanation, "simply learning a new stance in the long run isn't going to solve the problem as you'd still have the same problem as before. What I've taught you to this point is how to harness the cold and then channel it so if you can learn the correct stance the same problem would remain - there is little to no natural cold air for us here to work with."

"Advance stances, then," Ultear spoke up as turned away from her book for a moment, "you're going to teach us a stance that will help us generate our own artificial cold and we then have to learn to incorporate into our default stance. It's how you're the only not ready to pass out from the heat in here, isn't it?"

"That actually sums it up quite nicely," Ur nodded before snapping her fingers as the temperature in the cabin suddenly plummeted and Gray found himself letting out a low sigh of content as he suddenly felt like he was back in Auorth. Ur snapped her fingers again a moment later and the cold vanished however, and heat set upon him like a rabid dog and the young boy could only grown as he pulled his sweaty t-shirt down over his face slightly. "As any proper elemental wizard you all need to be able to create and master every aspect of your element if you want to truly master the art. As such well be doing a lot of work with water during this trip as well as trying to create our own artificial cold aura, if you will.

"Maker Magic is about more than harnessing an element," Ur said in a lecturing tone with a straight face before cracking a soft smile, probably recalling how her own master had given her this exact speech she was now giving, "it's about becoming one with it, reaching a state of limitless potential where you can do anything with it. Even manipulate your own body or converting an existing object into a different one, perhaps even change a completely different element into a new one. And that's the kind of magic you'll be learning after this trip if you can master want I have to teach you before we return home."

"Earlier you said this trip very we'll be the end of our time with you," Lyon pointed out nervously, voicing the concerns all three of them had.

"If you fail to fully master what I have to teach you by the trips end then there's nothing more that I can teach you," Ur suddenly sounded deadly serious, giving Ultear a rather pointed looked, telling she was not exempt for this rule: daughter nor not. "What comes after this is an entirely different brand of Ice-Make Magic, we're talking about highly experimental and dangerous magic that will _kill_ you if not used properly. So, think of this entire trip as a giant trip which, if you fail, means you will no longer be my student any more. It's that simple."

As angry as the sudden bombshell made him, Gray couldn't really bring himself to get angry as a sudden sense of dread overwhelmed him. It crept up on him but hit like a fist to the face - that nagging voice - that asked him just what if he failed? Then what?

"You don't have to look so worried you know?" Ur chuckled as she looked out the window for a brief moment. "My own master brought me on this exact trip that I'm giving you now and I passed whilst being half as capable as he three of you are now. I have the utmost faith in all of passing with flying colours. Now," turning back to the three children, "besides the heat there are a lot of dangers here in the country of Seven: it's nickname of the borderlands is joke on how the country seems to be teetering on the border of full blown anarchy. That said we'll be going to a place called Midway which as one of the more populated areas is thankfully much more... _safe_."

"So basically everything wants to kill us out here," Gray said and Ur said nothing to deny the comment.

"Welcome to the borderlands, kids." Ur shrugged one shoulder with a small smile. "This place will chew you up and spit you back out, but you'll thank me for this experience one day. I mean, you're going to have to face the world as it is eventual and you might as well have me there to hold your hands the first time you do."

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**A/N: **So this one took a while, largely because I scrapped a lot of what I had originally planned and started over at least twice. Admittedly this is the chapter that starts the first real arcing plot line and the next one will also largely be a set up chapter to help define what's ahead and building some characterisation and dynamic between the three kids and Ur. Hopefully this storyline doesn't drag one forever as a large part in world building but you guys need to see some of the things which happen during this trip so when we skip ahead a few years afterwards the events taking place make a little more sense and means I don't have to do needless amounts of flashbacks later.

Like I said this chapter is partially world building and starts defining the rules I'll be using when doing things with Maker Magic in general and doing something I really wish Hiro did a little more which is flesh out how all the different types of magic work in detail. That said I can understand why he _doesn't_ but I feel the development of the kids as wizards becomes more interesting if there are ground rules and we see them develop and explore the boundaries of those rules because in my opinion a trip like this would be needed, as living in the cold whilst learning Ice-Make is, to me, learning to ride your bike with stabilisers, with this journey into the desert acting as the point where the training wheels come off.


End file.
